Kompanj and more Karst fun
Kompanj is the other 5* crag in the Buzet area; a defiant final outcrop of immaculate white and orange limestone on the 100km escarpment before it fizzles out towards Rijeka. […]
Category Archives: Eastern Europe
Vela Draga
Istria, the bulbous peninsula at the northern end of the Adriatic, is separated from the rest of Croatia by the Učka mountains, which are protected as a Nature Park. The […]
Climbing on the Karst – Buzetski Kanjon
The Karst escarpment that hosts so much quality climbing in this corner of the Adriatic runs for around 100km from Monfalcone in Italy, south east through Trieste, nips across Slovenia, […]
Drive-by cragging on the way to Croatia
The RockAroundTheWorld bus is back in action and heading for an autumn escape to Croatia. If you plot a route via the Hull-Rotterdam ferry, you’ll find you pretty much drive […]
RockAroundTheWorld Retrospective – The 2004-5 Big Trip part 1: Around the Baltic in 80 Days
We first coined the phrase “RockAroundTheWorld” in 2004 when Helen and I took the tumultuous decision to have a “grownup gap-year”, take the kids (aged 8 and 10) out of […]
Highlights from a Balkan Odyssey
Back home from our Balkan Odyssey, and a chance to reflect on some of the highlights of a two-month, 10,000km climbing road-trip through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to […]
Baile Herculane
The spa resort of Baile Herculane is probably the finest climbing area in Romania – Petzl presumably thought so, as it featured on their last RocTrip. We arrived late and […]
Vratsa
Probably the most famous and extensive climbing area in Bulgaria. Our well researched plans came somewhat unstuck as the campsite we’d been hoping to use as a base turned out […]
Karlukovo cave – Wow!
After a couple of weeks and a couple of thousand miles we’ve climbed on almost a dozen crags in five countries. Enjoyable routes in often great settings, but some way […]
More St. Trinity Rocks
Having reccied the approach, and with an overnight weather front dropping the temperature by 10C, we went for another look at St Trinity Rocks. First stop was the twin caves […]
In to Bulgaria and climbing around Veliko Tarnovo
Leaving Brasov we enjoyed pre-Alpine scenery over the Bucegi mountains before dropping down to the plains and relative dullness of southern Romania around Bucharest. The Bucharest ring road was a […]
Climbing in Transylvania around Brasov
It’s less than 300km from Turda to Brasov, but around a 5 hour drive. You just have to get into the slower paced groove, rejoice in the average trip mpg […]
Rimetea
Just 30 minutes from Turda is the pretty village of Rimetea, a former Hungarian mining community which has been the subject of major renovation of its classical houses and historic […]
Tardos – a taste of Hungarian climbing
Hungary is pretty flat – plenty of pretty green rolling hills, but not a lot of rock or places to climb. However, we were passing through and determined to get […]
Zadvarje
Another crag within easy reach of Omis, at the top of the Cetina gorge. Nice drive, but to be honest the climbing wasn’t anything special. Maybe a jaundiced view as […]
Brela
Pretty crag, about 20km south of Omis. 60m routes on steep grey walls, covered in hidden jugs. Not to mention breathtaking views over the Adriatic.
Dubrovnik
A damp day coincided with an overdue need for a rest, so a side trip to Dubrovnik fitted the bill. Gorgeous walled city with the compelling back story of recent […]
Omis climbing
Enough about pirates – what about the climbing? Well, there’s loads of it, much of which is spread along the road which winds out of town up the Cetina gorge, […]
Omis – into the Pirate Stronghold
Omis lies a couple of hours south of Paklenica, and 20km south of Split. The river Cetina has carved a deep gorge through rock barriers, into the sea, making the […]
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